Heavenly sword of the new age
by Zaknafein
Summary: Ranma/Ruroni Kenshin. What would things be like if ranma had a real master early on in the training journey. Revised.
1. Chapter 1

Heavenly Sword Of The New Age  
Disclaimer: I do not own either of these series. 

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--------------------Chapter 01

The young boy sat on the lush hillside, watching anxiously as the line of red sank below the western horizon. This would be perhaps his final dusk here, and he knew well the pain that leaving behind those he had grown to love would bring to his young heart - a heart that had known only the unthinking cruelty of his father for more than four years. The boy did not turn away though, when the upper rim of the flaming sun disappeared below the horizon. He accepted the darkness, as he would soon accept his father back into his life, a fitting symbol he thought.  
  
The moon climbed higher and tears rolled out of the boy's gentle cobalt eyes. He would miss this place, in all of his fourteen summers of life on earth, he had never been so happy as he had been in his four year stay at this place. This latest period of his training journey had been the most intensive to date. At first, the boy had found this surprising; he had believed his father was a highly skilled martial artist with extremely effective training methods. 

He had been naïve. 

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--------------------4 years previous  
  
Ranma sighed, shifted once more into the first stance of his new kata, and from habit glanced at the area around their temporary home, littered with empty sake bottles, to be sure his father was still there. 

He was.  
  
Not for the first time, he peered north into the hills, squinting. Brushing unruly jet-black hair aside with one hand, he kept his fingers raised to shield his blue grey eyes, trying vainly to see the abode of the mysterious samurai the townspeople spoke of. As always he could see the faint bluish haze that marked the heresawa falls, but no more.  
  
Ranma longed to meet the mysterious sensei, but this was one of the many things he knew not to bring to the attention of his father, if they were to go there it would have to be his father's idea. So he continued to go through the motions of his kata, and waited for Genma to awaken, perhaps today would be the day that his father learnt of the local legend.  
  
Still, he was not satisfied. He was thinking of this later that morning when he felt a presence in the campsite. He looked up but saw no one. The area was deserted and yet he could not get it out of his mind that someone was there. He stood up and was about to call out when he thought it might again be somebody that his father had wronged in the past, so kept quiet, not wanting to give the old man any degree of warning.  
  
Rapidly, his assessment changed. While he was quite certain now that someone was there with him, it also came to him that this person meant him no harm. How he had come to this conclusion he could not have said; it was, rather, a purely automatic response.  
  
Light spilled into the corner of the lot, touching the edge of the clear- lacquered wooden fencing, leaving in dense shadow the corner beam. He was watching the pattern of light and shadow when a voice said, "Good day, Ranma."  
  
The corner shadow had come to life, a figure stepping out of its concealing pocket, into the light. He was a thin, slight man, his stiff bristly hair already grey streaked. He had eyes that never appeared to move, yet took in everything at once. He made absolutely no sound as he came down off the fence line to stand in front of Ranma, who, bare to the waist, felt tongue- tied.  
  
He had met the man when they had first arrived in town, he had seen the two of them sparring and had come to watch the spectacle, and at least twice a week for the last month the old man had come to watch the two train. He had barely said three words to him since he had come to the lot. Now they were here together, and Ranma understood enough to know that the meeting was not accidental.  
  
He saw the man eyeing him, and his comatose father, then the man stepped forward, his outstretched forefinger touching the purple and blue bruise just beneath Ranmas left eye, one of many. Seeming to be angered by its presence the man made his way over to the boy's father, and slapped the unsightly man awake.  
  
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Genma awoke with a start, and still only half aware, lashed out at the visitor. Luck was not with him though, and the old man easily sidestepped the clumsy lunge, unnaturally quick. After a few moments, Genma seemed to gain his bearings, well, enough to focus on the man before him anyway. At first confused, Genma peered intently at the visitor for a few short moments, and seemed to find something he liked, a lot, if the smile that blossomed on his face was any indication.  
  
Grinning, Genma suddenly starts, "You would be Souijiro Seta I take it".  
  
Seemingly disinterested the man replied, "And you would be the man that has been making inquiries, specifically asking for directions to the 'martial arts master' said to reside in the surrounding countryside, the one that even your former master, Happosai, was wary of."  
  
"That's right", Genma returns, and then demands "I want you to train the boy", with this he points to Ranma, and seemingly having nothing to add, waits for the response.  
  
"I have met many a man such as yourself, Genma Saotome, and know that the only thing you consider of true value is your own life." He pauses then, takes a moment consider the request, "And so, I will take on the boy as my student, yet he is to remain in my care for four years, in witch time you will have no contact with him, should you attempt to see him I will kill you on sight. If this is unacceptable you may challenge me now, and should you win, you may set your own terms, any you like. However, should you lose, you will abide by my terms, and not come within a hundred kilometres of this place for the set time period."  
  
Genma seemed torn, but his stubbornness soon overcame his common sense, and taking up a seemingly awkward stance, agreed.  
  
After a moment of thought, the old man adds, "Very well then, let us begin. As you are the challenger you may call the start of the fight." With this the old man just seemed to relax, he took up no recognizable stance at all.  
  
"Hajime"  
  
All of a sudden, his father's body started to shimmer, like snow on a television set. It was very strange, and suddenly without warning, disappeared. It was not to be however, as without warning, Soujirou appeared perhaps six metres behind Genma previous position, and Genma, once again visible, flew back like he was shot out of a cannon. The man quickly overtook Soujiros position, and finally came to rest slumped against the perimeter wall, completely unconscious.  
  
Peering closely at his beaten father, ranma could see that he was covered with thousands of shallow cuts, and he had a huge bruise on his face, the mirror of that found on Ranmas own, only twice as large. 

It was incredible.

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Satisfied with the outcome, Souijiro allows himself to smirk at the man, it was not the vacant smile of his youth, but genuine amusement, an emotion that at one time, he had thought he would never feel. After a few minutes he turned toward his new student, and slowly made his way over to the boys side. Placing a hand one of the young boys shoulders, he began to speak, in a calm reassuring tone of voice.  
  
"My name, as your father stated, is Souijiro Seta, and though I practice a large variety of hand to hand styles, my primary focus in the martial arts is the sword." He paused here for a few moments and takes a few deep breaths. "I have no professional standing, yet as you have seen, I am of no small skill, for a number of years now I have been searching for an heir to my fighting style. The problem with this is that my style requires the user to have natural talent, and in this time of peace there are very few born with the skill, and certainly none in a farming area such as this. Come now, your father will not awaken for another hour, we can get some lunch while we wait for him to rise, I am sure that you are hungry."  
  
And that was what the pair did. Ranma was treated to the largest meal of his young life, and spent the time telling his new master about his training to this day. What styles he had been introduced to, some of the methods his father used, and strangely, his views on a lot of other things. He felt free to discuss things with Souijiro he would never tell his father. All to soon the time had come to go, and the pair made their way back to the garbage-strewn campsite. Genma was now in a seated position, clutching his head; he seemed to sense their approach, as when they came through the opening in the fence line he quickly sprang to his feet.  
  
He seemed to debate with himself for a while, looking to try and go back on the terms. Soujiro seemed to come to the same conclusion, and rested his hands on the sword hilt that seemingly appeared from nowhere about his waist. Genma noticed too, and started to chuckle nervously.  
  
-This is not good- thought Genma, -four years is a long time, and my influence will disappear. Well there is no help for it, Soun old buddy, it seems I will be visiting earlier than expected-. His mind made up, Genma packed his things, and not bothering to say goodbye to his son, or even acknowledge his presence, left.

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The dismissal was hard on Ranma, but it was something he had come to expect from his father, so he could bare with it. Glancing from the side of his eyes at Souijiro, he felt that maybe, just maybe, his life had taken a turn for the better.  
  
Souijiro let the boy have few moments to himself, it must have been hard on the young child, then looking around at the state of the lot, decides a lesson on responsibility is in order. And so for the following hours the two gathered all of the rubbish together, and placed it within an industrial bin behind the towns main store, it was thankless work, but necessary, and looking upon the clean lot after they were done gave Ranma a clear feeling of accomplishment.  
  
Gathering the boys pack, and after a final look around the now bare lot, the two, master and student, made their way leisurely out of town, it was the beginning of something new for the boy, and he found that very exciting

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--------------------present day  
  
His father was nothing more than completely self absorbed oaf, he let his own son starve, and taught him only as much of the art as he found necessary, nothing more, whenever it looked as if Ranma would get the upper hand in a fight, he would pull a dirty trick just so he would come out on top. Well, things would be different now, he had a new perspective on life, his father would learn that bushido, honour, had real meaning. And he was just the one to teach it to him.

--------------------To be continued. 

----Please review.


	2. Chapter 2

Heavenly Sword Of The New Age  
Disclaimer: I do not own either of these series. 

--------------------------------------------------------------  
--------------------Chapter 02

He tried to calm himself, but it was no use. There were too many memories here, too much unhappiness, too much left unsaid. It was not that he had an unpleasant relationship with his father, but that they had no relationship at all. How Genma had come to be the way he was today, Ranma did not know. He could only hope that with time, and his hard work, changes to the currently loathsome personality of his father could be made. Similar to those changes he himself had undergone while under the guiding hands of Soujiro. Such things did not happen overnight, and required strength of character in the teacher that he did not use to have.

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--------------------4 years previous  
  
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Soujiro said.  
  
Ranma had to agree. They stood beside a slow meandering brook, which tumbled down across moss-covered rocks from a height of perhaps six metres, certainly not more. Everywhere was green, even the water, even the pebbles. The house was perched upon pilings over a pool at the bottom of the small waterfall. A winding pathway of great black rocks led to it from the bank. The only sounds were the prattle of the brook and the sighing of the wind in the trees. He could see bright flashes off the skin of koi from the pool beneath the structure, it was as if they had travelled back in time, it was fantastic.  
  
The boy couldn't help himself; "It's great" he was quick to inform, in all of his years of life, he had never seen this places like.  
  
"It is your new home." Soujiro informed him quietly, "For the next four years you shall seldom leave this place."  
  
He paused here for a few moments, to order his thoughts, and to make sure he had his student's full attention. "There are some things you must learn of, and a number of rules I will require you to follow during your stay. Their explanation will take some time. Come, we will continue within."  
  
Ranma took off his shoes and set them on the mossy embankment before trying to walk across to the house. The stepping-stones were wet and slippery.  
  
When he had reached the house, he climbed the steep wooden stairs and stood on the porch where Soujiro stood, waiting. Pointing towards the row of clogs placed near the door, Soujiro motioned for the boy to put a pair on, something he was sure Ranma had never done before.  
  
"First things first, you will need to know the location of everything in the house during your stay, so, follow me, and I will show you around your new home, if you have any questions do not be afraid to ask."  
  
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Immediately within was a large area with a table sitting in the middle of it. There were oil paintings on each of the walls, however the one thing in the room that truly caught Ranmas eye was a portrait of Soujiro and a beautiful older woman. They were sitting together, embraced, at the entrance to the house, the brook could be seen behind them in the noonday sun, both with content smiles on their faces. Curious, he turned toward the older man and asked, softly, "Who is the pretty lady in the picture, master, you look so happy with her?"  
  
Soujiro looks at the canvas the boy was referring to, a portrait of himself and his wife, Megumi. It had been painted the previous year by one of the young woman down in the village, on their wedding anniversary. He was very close to the girls family, had known them since they had first settled in the area, two generations previous.  
  
Snapping out of the memory, he turned toward his young charge. "Yes we were both very happy that day, it was a special to us, and the woman in the picture is my wife, Megumi. You will meet her later on tonight, she is the local doctor, and has a clinic in town. It was through her that I first learnt of you in fact. People that came in to see her were voicing concerns about your welfare."  
  
"Really. Wow. Your lucky master, she is very pretty." The boy replied with enthusiasm, it had been a long time since he had had a mother figure in his life, and he missed it, a lot, nearly every night he would wonder about his mother. Where she was, what she was doing, was she thinking of him? He hoped that she was.  
  
Watching Ranma for a while Soujiro could see a number of emotions go through the boys eyes. When they started toward the lower end of the spectrum, he decided a distraction was in order and so took hold of the boys arm, and moved on to the next room in the house.

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Off to the right side of the lounge room, the kitchen was located. It was a rather simple affair, a bench along either wall, one containing the sink, another the other an oven and stove. There was a large fridge in the other corner, hold on; -a fridge in the corner- Ranma couldn't help himself. -FOOD!!!- He lunged. Before he could get to the fridge, though, he was stopped short by hand.  
  
"Come now ranma, that is not really necessary. You have already had lunch today. If you would like something to eat you will have to wait for dinner tonight. Other than that you can have some fruit." With this he gestures to a bowl of apples, oranges and various other fruit and vegetables on the bench next to the sink. " We are on good terms with most of the farmers in the area, so if you ever feel hungry during the day, or at night, feel free to help yourself.  
  
Quick to take up the offer, Ranma grabbed an apple from the aforementioned basket. Taking a large bite out of it, man, it was delicious!! It was so long since he had something such as this. His father would only cook rice for him, and whenever they could afford something else Genma would just eat it all himself, this was great!!  
  
Soujiro waited calmly for a few moments, what would the boy do, would he thank him?, would he offer one to Soujiro?. When no thanks were forthcoming he added another thing to the list of lessons for his student, manners.

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The library was off from the centre wall of the lounge, around half the size of the other room, it was ringed, floor to ceiling, in grand oaken bookcases. One side of the room filled with Soujiros books, everything martial. Tactics, forms, spiritual guides, whatever he could find.  
  
The other side however, held the books that Megumi liked, maths, science, pressure points, foreign languages. Ranma would be reading a large number from both sides of the room in his time here, yet the boy did not need to know that for now. There were two leather couches facing each other in the centre of the room, with a glass plate in the floor between them, allowing one to see the water rush by, under the room.  
  
Turning to the boy, Soujiro informed him of his location "This is the library." 

And that was that.  
  
--------------------------------------------------------------  
  
From the left wall of the lounge a hallway stretched, from which could be seen four different doors. There was one along the left side of the hall and two along the right side, and finally a door at the end.  
  
Turning to the first door on his right, Soujiro motioned Ranma through. A set of stairs were revealed, leading down into an eerily blue light. Ranma showed signs of trepidation, but after only a momentary pause, he pushed on down the stairs, the kid had spirit.  
  
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He was scared at first; he had never seen light such as this before. Suddenly though he could see a golden flash from the light, and curiosity won over the slight fear. The foot of the stairs opened into a large room, the floor was covered with large tatami mats and the source of the glow was revealed.  
  
They were underwater!!! Cool!!! He rushed over to the right side of the room, his face glued to the glass. Ranma could see the koi swimming against the current, and a number of eels were amongst the reeds at the bottom of the creek. One side of the room was constructed of a huge clear glass sheet, and the entire room was submerged under the water, he could see the waterline perhaps two metres above the roof of the room. It was like a mini dojo.  
  
Turning to Soujiro, he enthusiastically speaks, "Wow, this room is great!!. What is it for?"  
  
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He had expected this, everyone reacted the same way when they first saw this room, it was like having a private aquarium. The truth was that he used the room for meditation. No sound could reach this place, just the lap of the water against the glass, it was very relaxing. "This room is used for meditation Ranma, something you will soon begin to employ. Now, you can come back here later, shall we continue?".  
  
"Sure."  
  
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Back in the hallway, Soujiro gestured to the door at the end of the hall. "This room is the master bedroom, myself and Megumi's, you should not go in here, if you must go inside, please be sure to knock first, okay?"  
  
"Sure"  
  
Next, he opened the left door, A large room was revealed, it had a huge futon on the ground along with a desk and closet along one wall. There was also a huge picture window with a great view of the town they had come from.  
  
"This is the guest room. For the duration of your stay, this will be your room, please put your things in the closet, but keep a pair of fresh clothes with you okay"  
  
"Okay"  
  
The final door contained the furo and toilet, Soujiro told Ranma to take a bath, as it was obvious that it had been quite some time since his last one, and it would give him time to decide how much to tell his new student about his history.  
  
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He knelt on the reed tatami, his kimono, light blue on navy blue, swirled around him as if he was the eye of a great whirlpool. He poured the steaming hot water into the earthenware cup and, as he took up the reed whisk to make a pale green froth, the form of Ranma shadowed the open doorway. Beyond his bent body, the polished wooden floor of the lounge stretched away, gleaming and perfect.  
  
Soujiro had his back to the doorway. He faced the edge of the shoji screen and the large window through witch could be seen the heresawa river winding its way through the countryside, and far off the distant village of Urostoi. The scent of cedar was very strong now, as it always was in this private retreat, save during those few weeks of winter when the snow lay heavy and muffling through the ridges and rises of the terrain.  
  
Soujiro never tired of the view, it was near here that Shishio made his last stand, the ruins of the once fine castle could be seen just a few kilometres the other side of the town. It was one of the main reasons he settled here. Even if the man was extremely misguided, he had done a lot for Soujiro, and he felt that the least he could do was pay that small respect. Behind him, Ranma was about to announce himself, but as he began, Soujiro raised his hand, and motioned for the boy to sit.  
  
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Taking a long sip from his tea, he took a moment to gather his thoughts. "As I told you earlier Ranma, there will be a few rules that I require you to follow during your stay here, I am very serious about this, as you should be. A large part of martial arts is about self-discipline, and I am sorry to say that until this time your father has not set a good example in this matter. Firstly, starting from now, you shall address me as Master, there shall be no deviations from this, and I will strictly enforce it, is this understood?"  
  
"Yes, master"  
  
Satisfied with this, Soujiro continues, "Very good. Secondly, for the duration of your stay here, you hall employ the proper level of respect to all those you shall meet. As it is painfully obvious that you have not been taught anything in this respect, it will fall to me to tutor you. Is this Understood?"  
  
"Yes, master"  
  
He paused again here, to let the boy contemplate the two new restraints on his behaviour, "Finally, as may be inferred from the previous two rules, during your time here you will obey me without question. Any objections you have with my instructions are to be kept to yourself until after you have carried them out. Is this understood?"  
  
"Yes, master"  
  
"Very well", Soujiro replied, pleased. "Now that the two of us have established the ground rules for you to maintain during your stay, we can begin to speak of more personal matters, as you have told me your life experiences earlier this evening, I shall now tell you of the more important of mine." He paused for a moment here, then looking Ranma straight in the eyes asked "How old do you think I am Ranma, forty?, fifty?, sixty?"  
  
"I reckon that you're around fifty master, am I right?" Ranma returned searchingly.  
  
"You may find this hard to believe Ranma, but the truth is that I am one hundred and thirty years old, I was a teenager during the bakumatsu, and did not even begin to get grey hairs until I was one hundred. This feat was only possible due to manipulation of my internal energy, the energy that your father would call ki. He was using this energy during our fight earlier, however the method he employs is actually detrimental to a person." He takes another sip of his tea here, to let the new information settle in the boys brain, then plunged on.  
  
"I had a hard life when I was young, I was victimized by my family, treated as hardly more than a slave. They would make me carry large sacks of grain, backbreaking, thankless work, from the time the sun rose early in the morning until after the sun set later that night. One day, however, there was an injured man taking refuge within the barn. He was hitokiri, an assassin; he had been turned on by the government, treated harshly despite his best efforts. My life was forever changed by that meeting."  
  
He paused here for a long while, and it was clear to Ranma that he was not sure if he was happy or sad of this fact. "I killed them soon after, and left with the hitokiri, Shishio Makoto. For many years after this I was an assassin in Shishios employ, my mind had been shattered when I murdered my family. I could not feel any emotion; I could only smile emptily at the world, as I had smiled emptily at my family. Things continued in this way until we encountered a former hitokiri, one considered the best ever. He again shattered my mind, yet this time, I could once again feel. Like that man, I felt that I should atone in some way."  
  
Soujiro just then noticed the faint snores his new charge gave off. There was no help for it, he would wake the boy when Megumi arrived home, perhaps he would continue his story some other day. He had yet to tell even Megumi herself the whole of it. And sometimes the things he had done in his youth weighed heavily on his heart. Still, for now, he picked Ranma up into his arms and placed him into his new room.

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--------------------present day  
  
Still there upon the hillside, Ranma thought about that day, his first under Soujiros guidance. It would not be until a year after that when Soujiro would continue his story. He was glad that at least in some way, he had helped Soujiro to heal as well.

--------------------To be continued. 

----Please review.


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